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Home My WebLink About07-18-26 Public Comment - M. Egge - Transportation Board Meeting 7_22 re_ Downtown Parking DataFrom:Mark Egge To:Bozeman Public Comment Cc:Emily Cope Subject:[EXTERNAL]Transportation Board Meeting 7/22 re: Downtown Parking Data Date:Saturday, July 18, 2026 2:42:22 PM Attachments:2026.07.18 Downtown_Parking_Public_Comment.pdf CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Members of the Transportation Board, Every parking policy discussion should begin with a reminder that parkingis a supply and demand problem. Demand-side strategies (providing ways for visitors to reach downtown without needing parking) are often easier to implement and more effective than supply-side solutions. They are also unambiguously better aligned with the city's broader goals aroundlivability, safety, and sustainability. I've attached a slide deck of additional opportunities for consideration on the parking demand side of the equation. I ask that you please includethese in your consideration of downtown parking management solutions. Thank you, Mark Egge, AICP 1548 S Grand Ave, Bozeman, MT 59715 DOWNTOWN Bozeman PARKING PUBLIC COMMENT to the BOZEMAN TRANSPORTATION BOARD Downtown Bozeman Parking A BROADER TOOLKIT: FIVE RECOMMENDATIONS Public Comment to the Bozeman Transportation Board | July 2026 In response to Downtown Bozeman Parking: Data, Audience Insights & Opportunities (July 15, 2026) Mark Egge, AICP DOWNTOWN Bozeman PARKING PUBLIC COMMENT to the BOZEMAN TRANSPORTATION BOARD 2 Demand-side tools can outperform new parking supply Faster to deploy, cheaper to fund, and aligned with the city’s broader goals: Sustainability · Livability · Safety · Public health DOWNTOWN Bozeman PARKING PUBLIC COMMENT to the BOZEMAN TRANSPORTATION BOARD 3 01. Safe Bicycle Infrastructure 02. Circulator Park & Ride 03. Airport–Downtown Transit 04. Rationalize Pricing Incentives 05. Add Pricing to the Solution Set Demand-side Opportunities: DOWNTOWN Bozeman PARKING PUBLIC COMMENT to the BOZEMAN TRANSPORTATION BOARD 4 01. SAFE BICYCLE INFRASTRUCTURE THE #1 LOW-HANGING FRUIT FOR GETTING PEOPLE DOWNTOWN WITHOUT CARS The evidence is every August •Sweet Pea's overflowing bicycle valet at Lindley Park provides more parking capacity than a $30M garage at the library would •Lindley Park is safe and easy to reach by bike —the Gallagator alone carries thousands of people to the festival each year •Most rational people won't ride downtown today because there is nowhere safe to ride. The city’s plans to fix this have never been implemented The parking paradox Trading a few spaces on the north curb of Babcock for the long- planned two-way cycle track is likely the single most effective step the city could take to increase parking availability downtown. See the 2017 Transportation Master Plan or 2019 Downtown Improvement Plan for more details! DOWNTOWN Bozeman PARKING PUBLIC COMMENT to the BOZEMAN TRANSPORTATION BOARD 5 02. CIRCULATOR PARK & RIDE BETTER-UTILIZE EXISTING PARKING BEFORE BUILDING NEW CAPACITY Discussed for years but never actually tried •Frequent shuttle service linking Downtown, Midtown, the Cannery District, and the Misco Mill area •The Fairgrounds becomes a park & ride (a long-discussed answer to downtown employee parking) •Promotes economic integration of complementary districts, and works for visitors driving oversized vehicles •With URD help on funding, Streamline would be a very willing partner to run a pilot next summer ONE ROUTE, FOUR DISTRICTS ●Fairgrounds (park & ride) ↓Midtown ↓Cannery District ↓Misco Mill ↓Downtown DOWNTOWN Bozeman PARKING PUBLIC COMMENT to the BOZEMAN TRANSPORTATION BOARD 6 02. CIRCULATOR PARK & RIDE A Downtown/Midtown/Cannery circulator would cover: •10,000 jobs •More than 1,000 parking spaces at the Fairgrounds Source: American Community Survey (2024) via GTFS·X. Workers: employed residents counted where they live (ACS means-of-transportation-to-work universe). Ridership propensity and Transit need are estimates, not counts: de-duplicated unions, so a carless low-income resident is counted once, with the overlap measured from Census PUMS rather than assumed. Neither predicts boardings. Jobs are counted at the workplace (LODES) and are summed inside the walkshed in this exact block-level analysis —a workplace universe, never added to residents. Downtown Circulator Coverage Summary DOWNTOWN Bozeman PARKING PUBLIC COMMENT to the BOZEMAN TRANSPORTATION BOARD 7 03. AIRPORT–DOWNTOWN TRANSIT MEET DOWNTOWN'S LARGEST VISITOR SEGMENT WHERE IT ARRIVES 74% of downtown visitors come from out of state—a substantial share of them arriving through the airport Source: Placer.ai via Downtown Bozeman Parking: Data, Audience Insights & Opportunities, July 2026 Service starts this fall—help it grow •Streamline begins airport–downtown bus service this fall with five runs per day •Streamline is seeking funding partners to expand frequency beyond the initial schedule •Every visitor who arrives downtown by bus is a visitor who never competes for a parking space DOWNTOWN Bozeman PARKING PUBLIC COMMENT to the BOZEMAN TRANSPORTATION BOARD 8 04. RATIONALIZE PRICING INCENTIVES TODAY'S PRICE SIGNAL IS EXACTLY BACKWARDS ON-STREET PARKING Most convenient product Free GARAGE PARKING Least convenient product Paid We give away the most convenient product and charge for the least convenient one. This is the opposite of how any other scarce resource is managed. DOWNTOWN Bozeman PARKING PUBLIC COMMENT to the BOZEMAN TRANSPORTATION BOARD 9 05. WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS FREE PARKING ISN'T PREVENTING AVOIDANCE —IT'S PRODUCING IT •People avoid downtowns for two distinct parking reasons: the monetary cost, and the time cost & uncertainty of finding a space •These are substitutes: when curb parking is free but scarce, the cost doesn't disappear. Rather, it converts into circling, search time, and citation risk •Expected search time and availability uncertainty weigh at least as heavily as price in whether drivers visit an area at all 41% of survey respondents say they avoid downtown because parking takes too long (with entirely free on-street parking) –0.8% change in downtown visitation from Bozeman residents, 2019–2024, while city population grew 14% Shoup 2006; Arnott & Rowse 2009; Calthrop 2001; Hunt & Teply 1993; Chaniotakis & Pel 2015 | Downtown Bozeman Parking Survey & Placer.ai, 2026 DOWNTOWN Bozeman PARKING PUBLIC COMMENT to the BOZEMAN TRANSPORTATION BOARD 10 05. WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS BOZEMAN IS UNUSUALLY WELL POSITIONED TO PRICE PARKING •Fee sensitivity concentrates among frequent, price-conscious local shoppers, but 74% of downtown visitors are out-of-state travelers with high time values and little propensity to divert over a modest fee •Demand-responsive pricing on the highest-demand blocks and lots (Black & S. Willson already run near 90% occupancy), with free or cheaper garage and periphery options, is the standard tool for guaranteeing an open space Excluding pricing means solving a documented avoidance problem with supply alone—the least efficient and most expensive path. Hensher & King 2001; Kelly & Clinch 2006; Marsden 2006 | City of Bozeman occupancy data, Jan–June 2026 DOWNTOWN Bozeman PARKING Insights by: Mark Egge, AICP. Design by: claude.ai 11 The Ask Pair the report's supply and education initiatives with the tools that make existing capacity work harder: 01. Build the Babcock two-way cycle track 02. Pilot a circulator park & ride with Streamline next summer 03. Help fund expanded airport–downtown service 04. Stop charging for the garage while the curb is free 05. Put demand-responsive pricing in the solution set